Persia.L—The Bakhtiari have a hardy race of horses, of a middle stature, about the usual size of the Arab horse, and a good deal of the blood of the latter runs in their veins. They are exceedingly fleet, sure-footed, and soft-mouthed, very manage able also, and capable of climbing up mountains with the agility and fearlessness of mountain goats. Among the richer Bakhtiari are many Chab-Arab horses, which are taller than the Nejd-Arab, and resemble more those of the island of Bahrein. The Chab-Arab horse is justly prized in Persia ; and Baron de Bode never witnessed a greater display of beautiful Arab blood horses, than on the plains of Mal-Amir, at the camp of the Bakhtiari chief, Muhammad Taghi-Khan, for at the court of the Shah of Persia the Turkoman horses are preferred to the Arab ; and among the former, the Tekke breed is the most esteemed for its size, power, and faculties of endurance.
Arabian horses are not very common in the north of Persia ; but the breed between them and a Persian mare is all elegance and elasticity, being of a rather stronger mould than the Arab of Nejd, the best race of the country. The Per sian horses never exceed 14 or 14 hands, yet certainly on the whole are taller than the Arabs, and have been much improved of late. Although neither so swift nor so beautiful as those of Arabia, they are larger, more powerful, and, all things con sidered, better calculated for cavalry. Of the several breeds of horses in use in Persia, the most valuable is that called the Turkoman. In the eyes of an English jockey, however, these horses would hardly seem to possess a single good point. They are from 14 to 16 hands high, have long legs and little bone under the knee, spare carcases, and large heads. But what renders the Turkoman horses so valuable to the natives, is their size and extraordinary powers of supporting fatigue ; for they have been known to travel 900 miles in 11 successive days. The Arabian blood has also been introduced into Persia; and some horses bred in Dashtistan, in point of speed and symmetry, emu late the most admired coursers of Nejd. Their usual food is chopped straw and barley ; the bed is made of dung, which is dried and beat into powder, and regularly every morning exposed to the sun. No people are fonder or take more care of their horses than the Persians. They are clothed with the greatest attention, according to the climate and season of the year, and in the warm weather are put into the-stable during the day, but taken out at night. The horses in Persia are not so subject to internal disorders as in Eng land, but their heels are invariably contracted, from badness of shoeing.
Persian horses brought to Bombay from Basrah and Bushahr, and those bred on the shores of the Gulf, are in use with the British Government, and some are of great power, strong, and enduring. The Gulf horses are out of Persian mares by Arab horses.
Turkoman horses, of excellent breed, are found amongst the Turkomans, who export the finest to Afghanistan, Persia, and India. The Akhal and Yomut horse is little inferior to the Arab in swiftness, endurance, and beauty of form. The Turkoman horse is a fine animal, between fifteen and sixteen hands high. He is bred from the Arabian, but the cross of the breed of the country, and the fine pasture, have given him great size and strength. There are probably no horses in the world that can endure so much fatigue. Sir J. Malcolm ascertained, after minute examination of the fact, that the small parties,of. Turkoman who ventured several hundred miles into Persia, used both to advance and retreat at the average of nearlyone hundred miles a-day. They train their horses for these expeditions as sportsmen train for a race ; and the expression they use to describe a horse in condition for a chapao or forage is, that his flesh is marble.' The Turkoman horse stands high, and the reports as to his feats show him to be it very superior animal, hut they arc almost un known in India.
The Turkoman horse around the Hindu Kush is carefully reared. It is a large bony animal, more remarkable for strength and bottom than sym metry and beauty. Its crest is nobly erect ; its head is not so small, or its coat so sleek, as the brood of Arabia, and the length of its body is greater. They will perform six hundred miles in 7 or even 6 days. Those that reach India are reared about Balkh, and Andkhu, and Maimana.
The horses of the Turko-Tarlar races are,— The Turkoman horse, or Argomak, chiefly in the western and southern parts of the khanate.
The Uzbak horse, more especially in the north of Bokhara, and in Miankale ; and lastly, The Khokand horse, in the neighbourhood of Samarcand and the east of it. There are two more, which are, however, inferior to the former ; these breeds are the following,—the Kirghiz horse and the Karab Airi, the latter being a cross-breed from the Turkoman stallion and an Uzbak mare, and vice versa. All these breeds differ from each other by their coat, as well as by other qualities. • The Argomak is usually tall, well-shaped, with slender legs and a swan-like neck, carrying its head proudly and with ease aloft. But its great beauty consists in the peculiar lustre of its coat, which is especially observable in the bay-coloured Argomak. Their defects are, a narrow chest, and a scanty tail and mane, in addition to which, some have the defect of being saddle-backed. These defects incapacitate the Argomak for undertaking long journeys ; and it would be above all things unadvisable to make use of them in travelling over the steppes of the Kirghiz, because they are so much spoiled by the excessive care which is taken of them, that they are almost incapable of finding food for themselves, not only in winter, but even in summer.